The Unforgettable Balloon Ride
by Despicable Margo
Summary: My version of the balloon ride scene after Barbie and the three musketeers. Rated T for mild *stuff*.
1. Mutual feelings

The slowly setting sun illuminated a soft orange glow in the sky above Paris. Birds flying in the distance appeared silhouette from the balcony of the palace where stood, Louis, the young king of this vast stretch of land.

He sighed as he gazed all around his land. It was practically one of the dreamiest and most beautiful scenery he had ever looked at. _I wonder how it's like for each bird to fly over such a magnificent view...must be tempting. I should try taking a balloon ride during sunset, but..._ Neither did leisure find him nor did he. The first couple of weeks as King has been too stressful.

He nudged at the back of his neck. It hurts from having that heavy pile of fancy designed gold on its top. His crown is too heavy. Not just in its mass but also having one on top is like having a burden to carry on most times. Even when he takes it off he feels it's just present on him.

"Your highness," a voice addressed him from behind.

"Yes?" the king looked at one of his messengers, slightly annoyed for interrupting his thoughts.

"Monsieur Treville and the musketeers have returned."

"Oh, alright." He didn't pay much heed to his announcement. It was strictly official. _Hold on! The musketeers, he said? That would mean...Corrine has returned!_ He grinned as well as shaking with ecstasy.

"Y-your highness, are you... alright?" the messenger asked nervously, hoping not to sound too informal to the king.

"I-I must go!" He raced out of the balcony before he could even finish. His messenger scratched his head in confusion.

 _Corrine is finally here! In Paris! For heaven's sake it's been so long!_ His heart fluttered and cheeks flushed red as he thought about _her_ , Corrine, the girl he had fallen in love with. He imagined her, dismounting her horse with such style and daring fashion, landing on the ground, taking off her royal-blue musketeer hat and then swishing her fair hair in the air. Some strands of hair would cover parts of her face which she would blow away with her pink lips and reveal her beautiful face: her vivid blue-grey eyes, filled with triumph and pride; her lips tugging into a cunning smile.

His heart exploded.

...

"Good day, your highness. " Treville, the captain of the musketeers acknowledged the young king's presence. _Oh Louis, forgot your crown again._ "My musketeers have once again held satisfactory victory among their hands, but I must say, the _girls_ made the most effort and progress."

"Good day to you too, Monsieur." Louis hated how he said _girls._ A way of telling them that they were unusual and different. But he didn't want to be disrespectful; Treville was older than him and personally he never took advantage of his position as King to disregard people. Corrine's images flashed into his mind again. "Is... Corrine here?"

"Ah, miss D'Artangan." The old man acknowledged someone's presence behind Louis. He spun around, it was Corrine, standing confidently with her hands on her waist. She looked just as he had pictured her before. _Beautiful, confident and dreamy._ His heart fluttered.

"Just whom you were looking for... She had rather been the best in this mission. Such a natural." Treville complimented.

"Why thank you, Captain! I owe it all to my friends and our teamwork." The blonde musketeer waved to her friends who dismounted their horses by the stable in the distance.

"I agree. You girls did marvellous." He nodded. "Now I must go, there is a special meeting I have to attend."

"A meeting? Again?!" Corrine was already getting sick of the sheer boredom she experienced in those so called meetings.

"Not for you, Corrine. It's amongst the palace guards."

"Oh, thank goodness." She let out a relieved sigh as she watched the captain jog away, leaving her alone with the king. She shrugged shy when his presence approached at her back. She turned around, her pace slower than a turtle. "Good afternoon... Louis. "

 _She called me Louis! She did!_ Joy beamed in his heart. For the first time in a long... time, someone _special_ had addressed him by his name. Well Phillippe did, but... he wasn't true of his words. He was also pleased that Corrine pronounced his name ever so beautifully and correctly instead of saying Lou-iss, which a lot of foreign people had. Overall, he just liked how his name slipped out of her tongue.

"Afternoon, Corrine." _What should I ask her next?_ "Um, how was... your mission?"

"Oh, it was awesome! I've never enjoyed any moment in my life before! We fought, we won! We totally kicked the bad guys in the rear! It was... amazing." She pranced, gesturing all the movements with her limbs. He chuckled softly. _God, this girl sure owns spirit._

 _Dammit! Learn to control yourself, Corrine! You're in front of the king._ "Sorry, I was just a bit too excited about... yeah." She looked down, blushing at her uncontrollable actions.

Louis laughed. "I can tell. I am glad you are excelling as a musketeer."

"Thank you." She bowed, tossing her cap. _At times you need to do the Lady Barbecue._ "Well, what about you? I mean, how's life as King? Must be relaxing and luxurious, huh?"

"The exact opposite." He bluntly said. _The stress, the headache, the crown..._

"Oh... but why?"

"Never mind. You... still remember that balloon ride I asked you to, right?" He raked his fingers through his dark hair. She nodded.

"Would you like to take it, today, Corrine?"

"Sure, why not?! I've been waiting forever to see France up from the clouds, again! Yes!"

...

 **It** was almost dark when Corrine had quietly walked to the palace premises. Her eyes widened when she saw huge amounts of pink and purple floating in air. _That balloon..._ She thought. Her mind flashed back to the memories she had collected from that enormous invention of his. ' _I'll never forget the first time we met. Up there, between the clouds... Just him and I.'_

Her cheeks tinted rose. Ever since he had bumped into her at work and politely apologized, she felt agile and fluttery. _The prince! He... he spoke to me! I must agree with Aramina, he's so handsome! Wait no! Stop it Corrine! Stop thinking like all the other girls! He's the prince and you are..._

She had mentally slapped herself after her mistress scolded her for speaking to the prince. _Seriously, De Bossé?! I guess not replying to his apology would have been rudely disrespecting him!_ But her eyes were still fixed upon him walking down the staircase. All she knew at very that moment was a new feeling of crush being formed in her heart. And that early stage of love known as a crush grew bigger and stronger day by day when she would think about his safety, when she shared her first ball with him, rescued him and miscellaneous.

"Evening, Corrine!" the young king waved from the balloon that floated a metre above the ground.

"Hey!" She jogged closer to the balloon. As she did so, she observed the surroundings to make sure nothing was insecure. _Ropes? Check. Premises? Check._

"Well, what do you think?" He called to her.

' _What do I think?'_ The blonde shot him an _Oh-what-do-I-know-about-your-balloon_ look. "Um, it's great? I guess?"

Louis laughed timidly. This was yet his second attempt on riding his very own invention. He felt proud although he lacked a tiny portion of confidence about his invention for most didn't operate quite the way he expected. "Hop in!" He descended the rope ladder for her to climb on.

But Corrine was already standing _right_ behind him with her hands on her waist. _Who needs a ladder when you know a bit of gymnastics_?!

"Hi." She said softly to snatched him out of his dreams.

"What?! When did you-" Louis looked at her astonished _although_ that look of astonishment was quickly replaced by him staring at her; her clothing.

She was wearing the skimpiest of white long-sleeved shirts and a pair of dark blue pants that stuck to her legs firmly. Her look was completed with a pair of black boots. _How could he possibly resist?_ His stomach flipped.

She realized there was something quite unusual about her clothing. _Royal people like Louis aren't quite used to this type of clothing . Shame._ "Um, they are clothes I wear for training, Louis. I came out straight from training so..."

"Oh, yes! O-of course. I-I didn't mean to... you know." His cheeks were flaming not only because of his actions that made the girl in front of him feel suddenly uncomfortable but _also_ at how lustfully revealing, flaunting and feisty she looked in her attires. He only wished her looks didn't drag attention of the many men she worked with. She belonged to him. No one else.

...

Louis carefully adjusted the burners of the balloon one last time before it slowly started to soar above. "Well, here she goes! Let us just hope for the best."

"Oh, of course this will! How can things possibly go wrong when you are controlling it, Louis! You are a genius at this!" Corrine smiled excitingly.

The king looked at her shy and confused. His expressions were enough to tell him that she suddenly acted weird and all...

' _Shoot! I think I said a bit too much!'_ She mentally slapped herself again. _Focus, Corrine! You are not here to flirt him! You are here to protect him! Although... when he first asked me to the balloon ride it pretty sounded like a date! Like, he didn't sound like as if he wanted to use me for security..._

The balloon rose higher into the sky and soon the palace and buildings began to appear small. People from the streets rushed out to see the bright pink and purple object float above them. Both children and adults waved and cheered. Louis, who was busy controlling the balloon smiled and waved to his subjects whenever he could.

 _Just how sweet and kind he looks when he is waving at his people. He must be loved by all..._ Corrine smiled at him with adoration which only grabbed his attention towards her. The musketeer blinked a few times before quickly shifting her gaze to her feet.

"So...how are you enjoying this?" He asked.

"Um..." She rapidly glanced at the four corners around her. The sky was bluish purple with a tint of dark orange. Small bits of clouds were scattered all over the sky and the pole star was the only one to be twinkling brightly.

Needless, to say whole through the time, Louis was the only thing she had her gaze upon. "The evening sky is... amazing. Really. Next time we should try flying over the clouds when it... rains or snows!"

The king was quite dazzled by seeing her sudden enthusiasm. _Does she really enjoy flying with me that much?!_

Corrine stood still. "Oh, I meant if only...you well... you would want to come or if you'd take me up here... with you. I-I... sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Of course I'd want to come up here! Well I am not sure if that would work when it's raining but... seeing the snow clouds from above truly sounds fascinating!" Louis snapped her off.

She nodded.

"And you can _always_ take a balloon ride with me, Corrine. Whenever you want just... tell me. I'd love your company."

 _Did he say 'Love'?!_ "Thanks. But I... couldn't."

"Why not?" His voice was curious.

"Because... I'll be too busy."

"You know you told me _'Just because you have your feet firmly on the ground, doesn't mean you can't keep reaching for the sky.'"_ He smirked.

"I did. But things don't exactly go as they say." She diced her eyes.

"Really?" the smirk on his lips still kept playing on. He was starting to enjoy this conversation. "But it would be quite relaxing to take a break sometimes. Right?"

"I don't know."

...

Silence befell them for sometime. Well, not that they _wished_ to hear the whooshing and whirring of the balloon _only._

"Corrine?" the king questioned her name.

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to tell you." he scratched the back of his head.

Corrine bit her lip, blushing. "Of course,"

"Will you..."

"Go on."

"I just wanted to say that...um, the thing is that-WHOA!" a strong gust of wind slapped at the crashed at the balloon, giving it a violent shake. Corrine _had_ toclutch onto his neck for dear life after being nearly tripped over the low walls of balloon basket. ' _That bloody wind almost killed me!'_

Both panted heavily. "Murderous!" She mumbled.

"That... was... close." Louis chuckled. He was still in shock and fear.

"I-I nearly got knocked off! What is it that you find so funny?!" She stormed giving him a piece of her thundery temper just like before when he had dissed her dream to be musketeer.

"It's funny you...still... have your arms around me." He mentioned the last couple of words in a shy manner.

Corrine immediately let him go. "Sorry."

"No, no... It's alright. I'm glad I saved you, I can't even imagine what would have happened if you... Yeah, I'd never ride a balloon again."

The blonde stood still for a moment, gasping, blushing, thinking... what he had just said...

The night sky is studded with stars now. Corrine swings her head downwards from the wicker basket. _Paris is looking so... peaceful yet so... ghostly._ Her head spins with fear. She was already being swept to death's hands but her lucky stars saved her. Louis, to be precise. Just the thought of him immediately clutching her wrist when she was about to fall and then her hands being wrapped around his neck sent tingles down her spine. But her heart was still palpitating on the deathly fancies she's having. _What if a wind, oh no wait, A Gale! Hits the balloon? Again?_

The fear and tingling in her brain takes over and soon she finds her hand take his arm and slide down until it's lightly touching his. She feels his hand go taut, and then relax. His fingers curl around hers. He remains quiet.

The beam of the light of the fire thins into the darkness of the night sky. It hardly makes any difference, just a small pinprick in front of the lit burners. Their voices too, are swallowed up by the darkness. She feels agile. To begin with, she feels cold and then something starts to happen. All of her fear drains away. A tingling sensation flows up through her feet, her legs, her thighs, her belly. She can feel the pulse of Louis' heartbeat just by touching his fingertips. She had a sudden yearning to bury her head into his chest and wrap her arms around him ever so tightly like she'll never let go. But the immediate warning of the difference in their social positions prohibits her to do so.

Well, maybe not most times. Sharing words and offering delusional touches to his hand builds a feeling of guilty pleasure inside her.

"Can you feel it?" She whispers, and tugs him closer. He's so close now that she can smell his faint, musky, male smell of royalty. He turns, and she senses that his face is right next to hers, almost touching, but not _quite_. He quivers his lips. _So close_. He yearns to smash his lips on hers and experience the lusty tenderness of her skin.

"Feel what?"

"How warm it is... and sort of alive. The burning flames above us."

His breath is warm on her cheek.

"It feels amazing." Her frosty eyes danced with amazement.

"I don't know. There's no sound though. Our voices don't echo, like you'd expect. The sound is sucked away. I can hardly hear you, even though... you're so close."

She can hear a tremble in his voice. "You're shaking." She says. "Are you alright?" her voice is unexpectedly tender. What's happening to her?

"Yes – no — you-" His heart paced its beats faster and louder. The sensation inside of him rapidly took over making him feel woozy like he would tumble over.

Corrine can't take it any longer; for a flash second she _has_ to ignore the barricade of class between them as she lets her dry lips brush against his face. "It's okay, Us. Here."

His lips touch her. Just as he had imagined, soft and tender. A sensation is building up inside of him making his body go tight and faint at the same time as her arms go right around him and presses at his spine. Heat creeps up to his cheeks and he is slowly gaining deficiency of breath inside his lungs but the thing is, neither of them wants to let each other go, certainly not after they've shown each other their true colours.

He pulls away from her. He is panting breathless. "Corrine... I, I don't know what to say-"

"You don't have to say... anything."

She is still shaking. _What have I done? No, this is not how things are suppose to be, he's the king! Unless..._ "Louis, look. I'm sorry."

"Why?" he's puzzled.

"Cause, your the king and I am not a princess! It's not how it's suppose to be!" She cries out loud. The chills in her body hasn't decreased, she's craving for more.

The king thinks for a moment. "Remember when I laughed at you and said, _'Girls can't be musketeers!'_?" a hint of laughter was present in his voice.

The look on Corrine's face stiffened. Even though she loved him and he had proved himself wrong at the end by announcing her as a musketeer, that incident between him and her which happened a long time ago was still unforgivable. She had encouraged him to pursue his dreams while he dissed hers although he thought of it as something rather funny. He didn't realize how much it had hurt her and recalling it hurt her even more. "You did." She replied curtly.

Louis raked his brown hair. "So, then it's the people who say ' _Royalty must marry royalty_.' Why can't _we_ prove them wrong?"

His words did have inflict in them.

The blonde studied her feet. _Should I really do this?_ She didn't want to confess it but she couldn't somehow find any urge in herself to... well... kiss him like before. The words he said was enough to destroy her mood, and she didn't know why.

Louis bit his lip. _Well that didn't go very well._ He treasured for a certain action he was required to take at that very moment. He nudged her shoulders and sighed. Without even thinking he folded his arms around her body. Corrine gasped, the warmth of staying motionless inside his arms sent a gentle breeze of satisfaction and happiness over her sanity. She fulfilled her long awaited urge to bury her head into his chest. Her arms snaked under his shoulders. _Mine... you are only mine, Louis._ His musky, male smell tickles her nose.

Yet, her king was the first one to pull away leaving a dissatisfied look on her blushed face. "I love you, Corrine."

She quickly favorited that statement as she replied to it. Louis closed the distance between their lips, cradling her face in his hands. His lips followed at a certain rhythm against hers rapidly and then slowly from lip to lip. Corrine's lips reacted cooperatively. He tasted her mouth —it tastes like nothing, yet so delicious.

It was like the same as before, the muffled sound, the electric charge, the tingling sensation. Their minds are too blurred to operate. They are practically losing their sanity as each sensual second ticks by.

The boy could feel her trembling. What should he do? But he knows, she's in charge. He feels her arms coil around his back as he touches her back, finding bare, cool, naked skin. Corrine shudders to the soft and sensational caress of his cold fingertips against her back. She picks up his other hand and places it right on her chest under her shirt. He daren't move. Can't breathe. She feels so soft and warm through the layers of her lingerie. _Stop thinking._ He let's his mind float off and his body take over.

Warm. Soft. Close.

Her mouth will swallow him up. Her tongue like a fish, a slippery eel. He'll suffocate. He surfaces for air. Corrine pants with a never fading smile playing on her lips. She licks off the wetness from her lips.

Louis reaches for her hair, letting it fall free from its tight bun. He strokes it—it's tangled, dry and slightly damp from sweat. It smells like candles and apples. He is spinning, dizzy with sensation.

The musketeers tugs at the hem of his shirt, his belt. "Take them off." She whispers. He is bewildered and bewitched by her intentions. She pulls away from him just long enough to fumble with the buttons of her own shirt. His eyes fail to look away; they are closed with deep affection and desire. He swallows hard when her shirt falls to the surface. Her lingerie is indecent as well. _Stop looking._

Corrine eyes him; they are blanketed in worry and hesitation. _Should I really do this?_

"Corrine..." He whimpers. By some means he wants her to tell him what bothers her while he also wants her to make further progress in doing whatever she is doing. He can't decide.

She presses her incisors on her lower lip. _I have to... there's no other choice._

She hastily unfastens the belt off her pants; pushing them down, only to a reveal a lengthy, diagonal cut that trails down from her left thigh above her knee bone. The brown of Louis' eyes widen with horror when her injury gains visibility.

"C-Corrine what happened?!" He screams like as if he's come against something blood-curdling and paranormal.

"Sorry for scaring you, Louis."

"How did this happen?" He kneels down to examine the gash, fingers caressing the border of it. The touch of his fingers on the smooth flesh of her thigh sends jolts of intense craving inside her — she takes no notice of his curiosity and concern. She looks down at him; his has surrounding her injury. One of his fingers accidentally touches the sore spot of her cut and she cringes in pain.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." His face looks twice as much as hurt as hers. "Corrine, please. Tell me what happened."

"Swords are meant to kill, Louis." She finishes off with a sad sigh, recalling how her opponent had made her fall to floor and her, screaming in pain as she bled her stockings red. After a day of rest, she resumed with her training but insisted Treville to say nothing about it to the king. She was afraid he might take away her position as a musketeer if he heard about it, but she didn't know if it would be out of his worry or dissapprovement for she lost one of the battles and got hurt.

And now all of it was revealed. She only hoped Louis wouldn't do the things she feared he would.

He exhales a large amount of air he was trapping in his lungs. He hugs her tightly just like before. "Why do you have to do this?"

"It's what I live for."

Louis eyes him, questioned.

Corrine doesn't know what to do. All of a sudden she feels worthless of herself. _Why did I do this? What was I thinking?_ She stares down at the small mound of her clothes and boots on the surface. She bites her lip.

As for Louis, he can't quite name his thoughts. They are a great blend of worry, confusion, desire and regret. But what is he regretting? He glances down from the wicker basket.

Clouds. _Altocumulus._ His vast sense of knowledge tells him so.

He doesn't notice that Corrine is still looking at him, expecting something. Her eyes somehow seizes attention from the corner of his eyes. He turns towards her but... his eyes can't handle this. They travel south down her face, her neck and lands at her cleavage. He swallows hard. The contouring shadows formed at the valley of her breasts by the faint light of the fire above her makes his stomach flip. The blonde shifts uncomfortably and rubs her hands around her arms. It's not even that cold up there.

"Um, we... we should probably get down." He quickly turns and takes steps in bringing the huge vehicle back to land.

 _Oh, alright._ Corrine, feeling quite embarrassed at her action, crouches down to grab her shirt. _I am a fool._

...

 **Thanks for reading.**


	2. Why why why

_What a bad move that was Corrine! Why did you ever want to..._

 _What's gotten into you!_

Corrine mentally cursed herself as she quickly got dressed. Her mind couldn't stop flashing the images of what her utter excitement had caused her to do a couple or more minutes ago…

Confession of her feelings to the King, kissing him in a rather intimate way and then having unexplainable intentions in her head to take her clothes off and, _Oh God, why?! Why did I do this?_

Corrine felt so embarrassed she intended to jump off the hot air balloon she was aboard in. And never come back. Ever.

She groaned as she sat down on the floor of the balloon basket, tightly pressing her knees against her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She tried her best not to think _anything_ and just watch Louis take steps in descending the flying vehicle.

 _Louis._ She couldn't help the warm smile on her lips at the thought and sight of her lover. Words couldn't describe how much she cared her about him. And him, her. Just a quick confession and act of love had forever changed her perspective towards him.

 _That kiss…_ Corrine remembered. She could still feel it on her lips. _Just how slow and gentle his lips were on mine…_

She knew her first kiss would forever be unforgettable. She giggled quietly to herself but forced to stop it by pushing her teeth on her lip.

Too bad he heard it.

He turned around, "I see you are…dressed, already."

Corrine remained quiet. His sentence annoyed her a lot. _Yeah, like can't he see that? Is he trying to tease me?_

He sighed, and then sat on his knees in front of her. One of his hand cupped her cheek and lifted her chin so he could look at her face. Corrine tried her best to avoid his gaze but somehow she couldn't.

Not when she saw him smiling in a way that showed… or made her feel that everything was okay after all she did.

The blonde held his warm hand close to her cold ones."I'm sorry, Louis."

This time he didn't have to ask her why. He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. Corrine stayed agile inside the warmth his arms that felt _so good_ up in the cold air.

He pulled away, "I'll have to land the balloon now."

"Good luck.", Corrine chuckled.

"Thanks, I'll need it."

…

Unfortunately, the second landing refused to take any of Corrine's good luck wishes. The balloon crash landed on a grassy area which was actually a bit fortunate for things might have been rather painful if it were on concrete or a tree but, Corrine thought her falling on Louis' body with her hair draped all over his face was…awkward.

"Looks like my good luck turned into bad luck after all." She muttered,not bothering to get off him.

The brunette removed some hair from his face so he could speak, "I actually think your good luck worked quite well."

"What are you talking about? The balloon landed with a crash! Just like the first time."

"I know. But look at the way _we_ landed." Even in the darkness of the night, Corrine could see the smirk on his face. It made her blush as she hurriedly got up and groped her way out of the massive balloon cloth tinted pink that looked purple in the moonlight.

"Oh, come on Corrine. I don't think you need to be shy anymore." He teased as he stood beside her.

"I am not being shy, alright? I just-"

"Think that _our_ landing was awkward?" He cut her off.

"Well, yes." She nodded and gazed at the palace quite some yards away.

Before Louis could say anything, Corrine turned around and said, "Louis, the balloon ride was…great. Really. But I need to go now. Bye!"

But Louis' hand caught hers, forcing her to stay behind. "Please don't leave me."

The blonde turned around, finding the young king looking at her pleadingly. It was a face she had never quite seen before and it was enough to make her heart melt.

 _But still,_ "Louis, I have to. Everyone will be wondering why I am so late and irresponsible and…"

"Irresponsible? What for?" _What responsibilities does she have to keep at late night? She had an exhausting journey back from her mission, her training and… I mean how much work does she have to do? With that unfortunate, injured leg of hers…_

Corrine let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temple. "Wasn't the balloon ride _enough_ for you?"

Her question left him stunned and punched him right at the feels.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"I understand." He backed a step away from her. Corrine crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. _What is he doing?_

"Good night." He turned his back on her and began to walk away. He would send his men to pick up the balloon later.

A feeling of emptiness and sadness lurched inside the blonde's stomach as she watched him go and leave her alone. _Maybe it wouldn't have been that bad to…_

 _No! That's enough for one day, Corrine! You'll see him again soon…_

 _But then why does tomorrow seem like it isn't soon enough…_

Corrine quickly shook her head. _Stop. Just…stop. STOP!_

She turned on her heel and walked south, the opposite of where he headed to. On the way she felt as if she heard someone yell 'I love you' to her. Must have been Louis, who else. Corrine wished she would have replied to everything he said before he left her.

…

Louis was in such haste he couldn't help but start running to the palace door by the time he reached the gardens. _Almost there..._

" **Your** Highness, it's great to have you-" He ran past one of the servant who opened the palace door for him, leaving her confused. "Back…" She finished to herself.

More staff stopped to ask him about things but none of them were answered. All just wondered why the king was acting so… weirdly. Last time they saw him, he was also in a similar state of running hurriedly. Because Corrine had returned and he missed her a lot.

" **Finally** _…"_ He breathed as he leant against the closed doors of his room. He blinked open his eyes, quite surprised to find darkness. Wasn't the candles in his room supposed to be lit?

Well before he could go complain he decided to light one by himself. _Now where did I put my candles and matches?_ He must agree, it was practically disturbing to grope for such little things in the dark.

While groping, he felt as if he bumped against something. It was hard and solid and it felt like… a desk. He then heard a shattering noise of glass breaking. _Oops._

At least he was wearing his boots so he knew he wouldn't…

 _Poor Corrine._ The thought of getting a cut on himself made him remember when he encountered the _very_ scary sight of her gash on the leg. He truly felt bad for her.

He further kept searching in the darkness, often bumping into several objects that seemed familiar. But a part of him told he might have chosen the wrong room for the new chamber that was arranged for him as King was quite empty and large. It only had a furnitures located at the corners but this room felt as if it had more complicated stuff than furniture…everywhere.

"Got it!" He cried in relief and joy when his hand touched a candle stand somewhere and he found the match box _right_ beside it. Perfect.

Without wasting further time he now had a small portion of light in his hands. Too bad the light was so dim to see anything but large, _monstrous_ shadows on the bare walls.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. _I knew I should have opened the windows!_

"There." He groaned, letting the moonlight pour into the room. He didn't put off the candle though.

When he turned around and actually saw where he was in, he couldn't believe his eyes. OK, maybe some bit of it for the fact that he was in his old room. And the objects that he bumped onto repetitively were none other than his experimental science stuff. He bit his tongue in embarrassment to himself—he had never been tidy enough to put those away properly or let the servants do it for him.

 _But why did I decide to run to this room?_ He hardly never did anymore for the Royal duties took away all his endless spare time he used to spend on inventions.

"That's so peculiar." He further thought about his 'That's so peculiar' activity: choosing the wrong room.

Maybe all the _romantic_ events of today had made him forget everything and taken him to the past where he was free and just _Prince Louis_ as he had first met her. _But why?!_

 _OK that doesn't even make a hint of sense! But...that's probably what happened. I'm out of my mind. AGAIN!_

He chuckled, then took a bite of the muffin he picked from a tray on the way to his _old_ room. He wasn't in the mood for a late dinner.

He sighed and gazed around the room. _His_ room. Why did he ever want to move to another one? This place might have been messy and… a bit dangerous when dark but it was definitely a place he personally addressed as his own world for the last ten years. The smell of turpentine and wood in the air was so… well whatever it would be described as it wasn't as fragrant as…

… _Her hair…_

Louis imagined her hair again. It was so soft and just how much he would love to run his fingers through them again and play with it until it was tangled and…

"Ow!" He yelped when a drop molten wax from the candle touched the skin of his hand. _Now, that stings._ He put the candle stand on a nearby desk.

The king looked outside of the window, his back leaned against the side wall and his mouth often chomping the chocolate chip muffin he was fond of.

The memories of his second balloon ride came storming into his brain: Him saving Corrine when a gale of wind had attacked his…contraption; him and her often feeling red heat on their cheeks whenever they faced each other; Corrine making the first move to confess her love to him; their kiss; their hug; their second kiss which was a bit… _yeah, whatever!_

Then things starting to change when Corrine thought of… _something._.. _I don't know why she did ,though!_

 _But I think… I actually, I mean she did look…her shirt on the floor,her standing in her…_

Louis covered his face with the large palms of his hands. Muffled giggling sounds came from him and butterflies and dragonflies and everything-flies swarmed inside his stomach. His breathing went shallow and he felt like hot invisible lava being poured all over him.

Though he felt happy he knew wanted to stop. _Actually,_ happiness wouldn't be the right term. His 'happiness' was now somehow corrupted by that blonde musketeer of his dreams.

However, this corruption wouldn't send her to any sort of prison. _Unless you would like to prefer the bed as one…NO! LOUIS, STOP! FORGET ABOUT… THAT PART! Think about anything but that! Think about… grass!_

The _monocotyledon specie_ wasn't helping.

He slumped on to his bed, beads of sweat running down his forehead. The hotness wasn't caused by the summer atmosphere outside nor his stuffy king clothes—just her. _She was a volcano all by herself. Still is._

When his mind…cooled _off_ , he remembered that the cause for him to rush back to the palace was his intense desire to put down all the events of this particular day neatly on his personal diary. A diary that had 'Corrine' as its very first written word on the front page. So… that 'diary' was actually quite recent and mostly implied on moments he shared with the blonde.

Though he didn't get too much. Most were fantasies. Imaginations. Of him and her. Together, _forever;_ Tiny, ink, love hearts used instead of full- stops.

But now that he had shared one huge and romantic event with her, he was ever more desperate to write it down and preserve it forever. He practically didn't want to skip a second of that _magical_ balloon ride…

 _And the fact that I had my very first true love's kiss today? Of course!_

…

 **A/N: Well I am guessing I just confused a lot of brains out there. Including mine! I literally had no idea what I was writing or where this story might lead to. But I** _ **do**_ **know it will be over next chapter. Somehow.**

 **Replies:-**

 **Guest: Thank you so much! I don't know but somehow I always get critical about myself… (I can't help it)**

 **Decembra1998: I totally agree with you. Thanks for all the super sweet compliments!**

 **Imangee: I am currently working on two Barbie as the Island princess fanfictions. You might have noticed I deleted ALL of the Island princess stories I wrote cause I hated everyone of them. But now I am trying to write it better with less mistakes and also some extra romance :)**

 **Mmmnmm: (Did I get that right? Sorry if I didn't. Your name is kinda tricky) I KNOW RIGHT! REALLY SATISFYING! I think I will move in to the real *stuff* next chapter hehe.**

 **Guest: Whoa…. I see this fic got you too excited! I really liked the parts you mentioned. They are my favs too!**

 **PrincessGeeklle: I KNOW IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE! (Okay not really) but still… *whispers* (Thank you!)**

 **Weatherbug02 : Whoop! I'm glad you found one! Thanks for reading!**

 **Nikki Gazer: Here you go… One more chapter. One more to go. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

 **BeautifulInBlue: Thanks again! I had fun texting at the PM thingy:)**

 **Thanks for everything you awesome Internet people!**

 **See you next update which will hopefully be soon cause it's one my fav chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello?!"

Corrine's voice echoed through the large empty fields of the Musketeers' quarters. She had been waiting there for a response ever since she left Louis after the balloon ride.

"It's me, Corrine! Open the door!" She slammed her palms hard on the surface of the door, tired of knocking for what seemed like ages. No one answered.

Giving up after another five minutes of the most impatient knocking on the large wooden door, the musketeer leaned her back against it. She sighed. "What the hell is wrong with all these people? Why do they keep ignoring me on purpose?"

 _"I'll tell you why."_

A muffled male voice replied from the other side of the door which Corrine saw nothing less than a stupid barricade. The musketeers' quarter was her only home in Paris. And she couldn't get in. 

Bloody frustrating.

"Huh?" With her face covering a combination of amusement and perplexity, she stood in front of the door most expectantly.

The door slowly creaked open and a half of a body tilted towards her. Corrine couldn't tell who he was for neither did he wear a musketeer's gear nor did she know of him. He could be anyone, the sweeper, the dishwasher or even the guy who is responsible of doing all the training.

Nope. He's too young. Like 23 or something.

"Oh… hi, you know me right? I'm Corrine! The musketeer!" The blonde showed off by cutting the air in half with her sword.

The unknown guy rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"So, aren't you going to let me in or something?" Corrine looked from side to side.

"Let me guess… no."

"WHAT?!"

"How about you stop yelling at this hour!"

"And how about your goddamn mouth and let me in!" Corrine stormed, kicking the door hard.

"I would. I mean… how could you think I would let such a radiant beauty like you wander off at such a late night...there are bad boys around." He smirked flirtatiously. "Really bad ones."

Corrine found his speech sickening, she wished to hit him hard to show who the bad girl was. But she tried to be sweet and nice, "Oh yes, the world is such an evil place. Mind letting me in then?"

The guy stayed quiet for a moment and half then a grim expression plastered on his face. "Sorry, but no."

"Why not?"

"Because you are the most irresponsible musketeer the Royal family has ever owned. You seriously don't think you can have all the free time you want after your training, do you?!"

"But-"

"No. It's by orders that I can't let you in like that. You'll have to deal with it with Treville. Tomorrow."

The door slammed shut.

"What a moron!" She let out the loudest and longest groan like a stubborn teenager. Although she was one.

"He didn't even let me explain I was with the king all this time! What the hell is his problem?!" She sat down on the stair-steps with her head on her hands.

She sighed. Yelling and complaining to herself wasn't helping. Here I am… being locked out of a place I thought I could call my home. Why is everything so strict and painful for being a musketeer? I thought it would be fun. Louis is lucky, no matter how late he returns he is always warmly welcomed. That's because the palace is his home. And the quarters are just my workplace. Nothing else. Life est belle. (life is beautiful)

She sat there for a while thinking, giggling, sobbing at all of today's events. Half of it was the best but the other half, which is the present is the worst.

She wandered around with her hands clasped at her back. She couldn't see a single person in the darkness of the night. It felt scary. Really scary.

If only I could tell him I had a balloon ride appointment with the king. That would have saved me from roaming around bored and starving. And terribly tired. The word 'King' would have solved it… all.

"King." She muttered. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips when she pictured his face. She started thinking about him.

That's it! The word 'king' does solve it all!

'And then she suddenly tilted towards me and our lips were just inches apart. Her warm breath on my face felt uncertain as she…'

Louis lost his concentration when a slight chuckle echoed out of his mouth. He was still in his old Prince chamber, writing his diary under the dim light of a half molten candle.

He closed his diary shut, remembering to trap one of his finger between the pages as a bookmark when he finds his rhythm back to note down all of today's… incidents.

He leaned back onto his chair, covering his mouth with his hand to suppress a yawn. Half of him felt tired and sleepy while the other half persisted him with carrying on writing precious memories.

He opened the diary again, surprised that the damp ink of the quill didn't mess up at the pressure of closing the pages together. He read through what he wrote so far. And each word written in perfect French calligraphy made him feel like he was experiencing those events right here, right now. Small smiles found their way right up to the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly, he heard strange noises. What was that? The noises, no they are too quiet to be noises. The strange… sounds were coming from outside the window just in front of his desk. He wondered what the sounds could be of. Must be the wind rustling the leaves or maybe a fight between two cats?

No, this particular sound became more and more audible and it most certainly felt like…Wait. Did I just hear a female voice? Could it be…

"Corrine!" He screamed as he lowered his head to see the source of the sound. He didn't know if he should feel ecstatic to see her again or the fact that she was incredibly high above the ground, struggling to climb up. One miss in a step and she's doomed. Forever. Maybe scared and worried is the right mood for this dangerous moment.

The blonde didn't bother to look up, she just kept on doing… what she was doing. Louis wanted to help but he was just a bit too high from touching her hand. Still, he tried, "Take my hand!"

This time their eyes met and so did their hands. Louis grunted as he pulled her up to the window panel. Corrine let out a huff of air, panting and stretching her arms for the exhaustion of climbing more than 20 feet off the ground, without a ladder. And also a good thing, she didn't get caught! I don't know if I should call the guards dumb or myself sneaky!

"How did you…"

Corrine rolled her eyes, she knew she would have to be a victim of the 'How' and 'Why' questions. And 'Why' was the only thing she was willing to answer.

"I climbed up." She put her hands on hips, answering conceitedly.

Louis' eyes and mouth widened. His fingers began to shake as he pointed to something. Corrine looked, he was pointing at her. She nodded, "Yes. Believe it or not, I did climb up the walls using the gaps between the walls."

"Oh." his figure went back to normal. _What a daredevil…I love her._ He looked up at her face again, it was almost silhouette in the darkness but the dim candle light added a nice aura around her. He smiled, "I'm so glad you came."

"Really? I thought you'd…never mind." She bit her lip.

"So, what brought you here? Didn't you say you had to get back?" He teased, balancing himself with one hand on the back of his chair.

"I most certainly did." Corrine shrugged. "But someone didn't let me in. He sent me away and said no entry till tomorrow."

Louis was about to growl in anger for that guy for not letting her in, but at the same time he realized he was the reason for why he was seeing her now. He actually felt grateful, but not entirely, "That's sad…" He pitied, his expression faux as his voice.

Corrine was good at detecting what was true and what wasn't. Her eyebrows lowered, "Oh, yes. Really sad. As sad as having to see someone close die."

He took her threatening the wrong way by laughing quietly.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Am I allowed to come in?"

"'S'pose so." He answered, not caring about where she would step to enter. Too bad she stepped on, "Whoa!" She exclaimed, slipping on something and then gravitating towards the open window.

"Careful!" His hand immediately grasped on hers and pulled her back inside as she stepped on his desk. "That was close!" She panted in both fear and relief. _Louis saved me! Again!_

When she turned her eyes back on him, her jaw dropped. "Louis! Yo-your shirt!"

"What?" The brunette looked down to see a big splotch of ink spread widely on his golden colored king suit.

"I am so sorry! I must have slipped on the ink jar and…I am so sorry!" Guilt was evident in those icy blue eyes of hers.

The boy smiled, "It's okay, accidents do happen."

"Yeah, whatever let me just help you with that." She ignored his 'quote of wisdom' and jumped off the desk to further examine the stain.

She looked around the room to search for something to help him with. Why is it so dark in here? She wondered, but didn't bother to ask him why. It was his room, and he probably liked it dark. Once in awhile…

"Corrine, please. It's nothing let me just-" He stopped as he began to take his stained clothes off.

She froze in her spot. Her cheeks started to heat up as each unbuttoning showed her a peek of his bare, warm skin. She gulped hard and she was pretty sure the butterflies in her stomach had transformed into fireflies. _Fire. Louis, you are fire!_ Her eyes widened when observed the veins running down his bare arms.

"There," Louis grunted as he took his inky shirt off, leaving himself in his pants and boots.

Corrine felt so… weird that the hair in her skin acted like it were to be pulled out of its roots any second. She couldn't really remember the last time she saw a shirtless guy but the tremendous amount of pounding in her heart, the heat and shakiness of her body told herself she liked what she saw. Especially when she had already craved for a view like this on top of a certain balloon.

"I'd prefer the ice in your eyes wouldn't freeze upon me." He referred to the frosty color of her eyes.

The musketeer dragged her 'ice' on the floor. "I'm sorry." Don't you think you have already done enough mistakes for one day, Corrine?! "I-It's just, I-" She stammered. "I, I need to go!"

"Wait a minute."

She stopped on her steps.

"Why do you want to leave? You told me you had nowhere to go. And sides that, how on Earth would you get down?" His voice was persuasive.

She turned around, "Somehow…"

"But why?"

"Because, because…y-you—I, I"

He chuckled with a roll in his eyes. "At a loss of words, huh?" He lazily strode behind her back, his hand twisting her fair hair like a rope and moving it across her shoulder. She remained unsure of her expressions as his hot exhales touched her back; she wanted to move away but his other hand grasped at hers.

His lips brushed slowly on the back of her neck, sending several tingles down her spine. Stop acting like that. She warned herself, biting her lower lip.

"Corrine," He whispered close to her ear. "I love you."

"I love you too, Louis."

"Oh, do I know that or what." Louis' lips moved rapidly on the side of her neck. He was awestruck of how his kisses combusted several moans from his girl. She stopped when his fingers found themselves tugging at none other than the buttons of her shirt.

"What are you doing?" She quickly moved away to face him.

Louis smirked, "It's not fair you get to stay dressed when I'm…"

"Oh?" Corrine's eyes twinkled with playfulness and mischief. Her hand rested on one of his shoulder, slowly sliding down to the center of his bare, lightly sculpted chest. "Why didn't you tell me before?" She slightly pushed him backwards, her fingers grabbing the first set of buttons on her shirt.

"Here, let me." He eagerly exchanged tasks with the blonde. His fingers took all the time they needed to fumble with the ivory buttons on her shirt.

The shirt soundlessly dropped on the floor. " _Much_ better."

Corrine looked at the small mass of white fabric beneath her. She felt shy, she felt nervous, Can I trust him?

"Are you okay?" His hand grabbed hers with such gentleness and care it made her feel that maybe being with him in secrecy wouldn't be that bad after all.

"I'm… fine."

"You don't look fine." He narrowed his eyebrows.

"How can you tell?"

Louis stood still. Think about something really deep and romantically poetic to say to her, to make her realize why you feel her, just think…

Don't stop yet, Louis. Think.

Think.

Okay, I give up. "Actually you know what?" He snapped. "I don't need any quotes about love."

Corrine stood there baffled. _Quotes? Where did they come from?_

" I already know what love is." He announced. "You are my definition of love, Corrine.I liked you at first, and maybe that happened just because of your good looks and attitude." He smiled remembering a hint of her attitude. "But that night, when you risked your life and freedom to save me from Philippe I knew I fell for you so bad. You might have done that to pursue your dreams but you know how I saw it as? I saw it as an act of love. I don't know if it's true but I think all dreams come from love. Like yours, your dream to be a musketeer was inspired by your father, who loved you. My dream to fly? Well I guess that came because… um… I love… birds?" Damn it! Why do I always mess things up?!

"Well said, Louis." The blonde teased, clapping slowly in mockery. "Did you really think you would make it that far? I mean… you're Louis."

"I tried, okay? Just stop." He blushed scarlet.

"Make me."

"Now, this I know _how_ to." Louis grinned maliciously and dragged her for a punishing kiss. Well, a punishing but passionate kiss. His method of 'stopping' left Corrine stunned for a minute. Her lips were totally immobile against his. But she soon found a rhythm to his lips and everything went slow and smooth, but eventually gained a bit of desperation.

Corrine's hands went everywhere— his hair, his shoulders, his chest, his cheeks. She was the least unaware of how each touch sent rumbling jolts of pleasure inside her lover's body. But she sure was aware of how Louis' fingers felt on her hot skin. Pleasurable and destructive with gentleness.

"Maybe it's your turn to stop me." He murmured against the skin on her neck.

"No. Never. I don't want you to." Her breaths were ragged and coarse as she embraced his neck.

Louis chuckled, "So stubborn." He decided it would be the absolute best to not torture his hungry lungs anymore so he planted one last kiss on her neck and straightened. He gasped at every breath, slight forms of pain echoed in the muscles of his mouth. He gulped hard, trying to digest everything that just happened.

Corrine's lips were aching too, but she didn't want to show it; she didn't want to show him that her encounter with his lips were tiresome. However, she doubted that her slightly swollen lips carried an indistinct reminder of it.

"Corrine," The brunette held her arm firmly. "I…"

"I don't think you have to apologize or anything, my King."

"King." He huffed. "When I kissed you I almost forgot who I was! Like… I seriously don't know how that would work but… your lips! They, they were driving me crazy and I, I think I just… " He stopped with a sigh. "That… was unbelievable. Best thing that has happened to me yet." He panted. "I have no idea how you make me feel this way. As if, I...I feel like I can truly fly! By myself! From everything. The stress, the fear, the unconfidence, the world!" He further began to chant dramatically as most people would have seen it, but he was actually speaking his mind out.

The musketeer rolled her eyes." Louis, you truly are a dreamy soul like the ones in a fairytale" . She held his face very close to hers. "Then fly with me, Louis!" Her teasing hindered when their lips wasted no time to ravish each other over and over again.

Xxxxx

Corrine groaned with delight when her back hit the pillows near the bed post.

"Do you want me to say something?" Louis kicked his boots away and climbed over her.

"Stop acting like you're drunk, your highness."

"Hey, I simply can't do a fraction of a thing about it. I find your lips too intoxicating." He gazed at her, his eyes clouded with lust.

"Too bad I can't do anything about it, either." She waved her hands sarcastically. She didn't care what she said. Or did.

"What do you mean?"

"Just kiss me."

"With pleasure." The boy smirked as he kissed her on the lips deeply but pulled a couple of seconds after.

"Why did you stop?" Corrine whispered the last couple of words, her finger twisting a mass of her hair.

Louis met her eyes that still had that never-ending sparkle of playfulness. He sat down at her other side of the bed, pressing his knees close to his chest, enveloping them with his arms. A sad shadow spread on his face as he studied his feet. He stayed there quiet, not even bothering to think of an answer for her question. There was something else roaming in his mind, something he should have thought about before.

Corrine watched him and what she saw made her feel no more than just confused. A few minutes ago he was the one who showed her certain intentions, demonstrated a few of them even. And now he was doing the polar opposite? She could feel the pulse of his heartbeat by touching his fingertips; she could feel it deep in her veins that he was worried about something.

She straightened and held his face. Even in the dimness of a few old alight candles, she could see his eyes, his lips pursed tightly into silence. Her heart sank to her stomach and she utterly wished to see him playful like before. "What's wrong, Louis?"

"Corrine," He breathed, holding her hand close to his chest. "I…"

"It's okay, you can tell me anything."

He sighed, "I, I just wish I thought about everything before we came this far."

"Thought about what?"

"Y-you knew what too much kissing and touching would have eventually lead to, right?" His cheeks started to redden.

Corrine shifted comfortably, "Yeah…?"

"That's the thing, I wish both of us would have thought about… all this before we…you know. I mean, it's my fault. I, I should have known I was taking things a bit too rushed. There are still so much we need to know about each other and make… promises. We-we had just lost our minds in such a short time that, I mean, I-I just don't want you to feel bad or… hurt."

Corinne took both of his hands in hers, "I know you're nervous, believe me I am on the same track."

"Corrine, I-I just want to be your everything. I want to love you, I want to make you feel the same way you do to me. But… I can't keep that promise."

She was about to say something but he interrupted, "Because, I need you to make me a promise first before I make you realize how perfect you are… for me."

Her heart stuttered and she felt adrenaline replacing her blood. She materialized in her spot, waiting intensely for the promise of his desire.

Louis straightened, his hand searching for something in his pocket. This is it, Louis. You are finally going to ask her! It's now or never.

"Corrine…" His hands held a small dark colored box before her.

She had already guessed it. Or did she? She swallowed hard and impatiently removed strokes of hair behind her ear as she gaped at the object carrying whatever it had inside. She only knew that 'whatever' it was had something to do with that deep promise he mentioned.

His mouth had opened most instantaneously as per as the lid on the box. "Will you marry me?" His voice was almost like a whisper as his eyes bored into hers with adoration and hope.

Corrine blinked like five times in a single second, covering her mouth with her slender fingers as an ecstatic tide of astonishment and surprise washed over her. She might have kissed him like… a couple hundred times, told him over and over again of how much he meant to her, giggled at the fluttery feelings he gave her and even got a wee bit nasty for him which she knew was entirely improper but she couldn't help it. But at the end of the day, she realized there was one thought she had never bothered to think about. Which was, what Louis had now mentioned. 'Will you marry me?' It echoed in her brain in each blink of an eye. She felt all her memories of the past few minutes fade away and as if all the clue she could gather for her answer was just the way he had her vision on her; how much he wanted her to be his forever…

How could she possibly resist?

"Yes." She whispered, letting her tears escape. "Yes, I will."

She had never seen him smile like this before as he embraced her inside his arms. Corrine reciprocated with him, whispering in his ear, "I love you, Louis." She had never felt this content. Okay, maybe when she was awarded with her blue tunic and the title of a musketeer, when she won her first mission or when she got to know his feelings for her but this kind of feeling of knowing that he would and will forever be the love of her life was solely incomparable to anything else as she had remembered.

Louis broke the embrace and then faced her, his expression oddly emotional. Dramatic even. He sighed, chuckling and covering his face.

"What?" She asked, amused and confused.

"I, I just feel so happy." His voice was muffled and shaky.

Corrine shook her head slowly and then looked at the little box that rested in between their laps. She held it close to her chest, giggling, "Aren't you going to put the ring on me first?"

"Huh, wha-oh y-yes, of course!" His heart was pounding so rapidly and loudly he felt like he could listen to his own heartbeat. He took the ring out of the box, slowly taking her hand to locate it on her ring finger.

"It looks beautiful." Corrine mentioned, motioning her hand from side to side to make the gem on the ring sparkle. It was just a simple gold band with a rather huge diamond on the top. The facets shimmered ever so brightly even in the dim candlelight. It left her gazing at it till Louis broke the silence, "Corrine, I really, really love you. And I won't stop loving you till I stop breathing."

"We'll see that, won't we?" An snicker crossed her face as she locked her lips with his.

Corrine held her breath when she sensed his lips tracing down the skin on her neck, his hands caressing down her bare shoulders and making her shudder. Her fingers were slow and compassionate as they tangled his already messed up hair. She had done this so many times, but the weight of the diamond ring on her hand had forever changed the way she looked into this. Each moment and motion they shared to each other seemed like their first. And it made them fall in love with each other more and more than ever.

Louis lifted his head and looked into her frosty eyes with love. "Corrine, just remember what I said, you are my world. You are beautiful, feisty, sweet, clever and you own countless more personalities that I love. I want you to be happy but I want to be happy with me. And I am sure we will, you think things are getting a bit rushed and you aren't prepared, then please don't do this. But just keep this in mind, I will never hurt you. I love you."

"Stop saying such beautiful things to me." She muttered then put her hands on his cheek. " I want this, Louis. I am ready for whatever we have to do to keep our promises. I know, even if I do feel hurt, the pain will only remind me of this moment. Our moment. It will be killer and unforgettable. I know it will," She lifted her head from the pillow and kissed him.

"Lift your hips for me, Corrine." His hands tugged at the end of her belt. She was quick to obey.

She sighed in the relief when the coarse fabric of her pants left the sweaty skin on her legs. Louis' face reddened and saddened at the same time. He brushed his fingers around her gash and kissed her thigh. Corrine held his hand tight.

Before he could say something, Corrine had kissed him in the most passionate way possible that his mind started to spin. He let her push him down in the bed with her, his hands eagerly sliding his pants down his hips. He shivered in pleasure and a hint of fear as the girl's hand smoothed down his naked, sweaty skin. He gulped hard.

 _Is this what I really wanted all along? Like, can't we just… I know we already talked through things but is this what you really mean, Corrine?_ Like a deep memory, an echo, the thought that it matters, that it shouldn't be be like this, not so silent and frantic and fumbling, but suddenly it's too late to stop. He can sense her rolling underneath him, kissing him—and then it's all over. Too quick. He's trembling with shock.

Corrine is making the strangest sound, half crying, half laughing, a soft moaning, crooning sound. He feels proud of himself. For the next collection of minutes that were somehow so timeless and slow. Each minute was different than the other. One came with loving caresses, the other came with the whisper of true love and lust in each other's ears, the other came with extra desperation and heavy kisses. The last one was beyond words.

He stops to look at her face. A thin bridge of saliva forms between their lips, carrying an intense reminder of last minute's kiss.

"I…" He looks down and up again. Have this as an unfamiliar experience, he didn't know how to proceed with the right word.

Corinne rakes her fingers through his sweaty hair, gasping at the pace of a cyclone. She longs to stay like this with him forever.

"You're unbelievable, Louis." She lightly kisses his lips, smiling.

He slides over to lie next to hers and shuts his eyes, panting heavily, beads of sweat running down his exhausted body. He feels as if he is spinning off into darkness, that he might disappear completely and forever.

He's way out of his depth. What happened just a few seconds ago, what they do together, it was the first time, and there's only ever one first time, and it matters. And there was a moment when he felt her: warm and alive, and real, close to him.

He hasn't felt like that before, ever.

Corrine lays her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him and immediately letting slumber take over her. She is too tired. Returning to Paris after a lengthy horse-ride, training, balloon ride, excessive blushing, kissing, panting, climbing up palace walls, repeating further acts of love… so much for one day. She is still smiling even with her eyes closed. Her breaths are slow and peaceful.

Such a night.

Louis rakes through his hair, pulling the soft sheets over him, Corrine. He tries to sleep but he can't. Things are just a bit messy. What's going to happen to when everyone finds out? I know I maybe king but… what will Corrine's friends think of her? Oh my God, why does everything feel so right and wrong simultaneously?

He blinks when he sees pitch darkness cover up everything. The candles have burnt out. He sighs, then looks out of the window.

So many stars.

Galaxies of them.

Thousands of years ago, maybe even at the dawn of civilization, they would have just been the same stars... 


End file.
